


Gauntlets & Greaves, A Star Wars Story

by GoneRampant, Shipperoftrashyships, SuperSecretAgentQrow



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crossover, Dismemberment, F/M, Gauntlets and Greaves, Only slight angst, Rwby in the Star Wars universe, Star Wars AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 09:58:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15313014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoneRampant/pseuds/GoneRampant, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shipperoftrashyships/pseuds/Shipperoftrashyships, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperSecretAgentQrow/pseuds/SuperSecretAgentQrow
Summary: Set during the Clone Wars, Jedi Knight Yang Xiao Long is tasked with returning her fellow Jedi Knight Mercury Black after he disappeared with his father, will she accomplish her task or will she fall to the power of the Dark Side of the Force?





	Gauntlets & Greaves, A Star Wars Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Adox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adox/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADOX!!!! <3 <3 Hope you have a fantastic birthday!!! Here's a GnG Star Wars gift fic for you! Can you find all the easter eggs ;-) I wanna say a huge thanks to GoneRampant for helping me with the fight scene and huge thanks to SuperSecretAgentQrow for being my Beta reader and adding some extra bits(Hence why they are co-writers), thanks heaps guys <3

Yang let out a heavy sigh as she admired the Jedi Temple in the distance, thinking back to happier times she spent there, growing up among her fellow padawans under the watchful eyes of their masters. It was only two cycles ago when she achieved the rank of Jedi Knight, alongside her closest friend Mercury Black, and together they began their roles as peacekeepers for the Galactic Republic. But as the Trade Federation continued their war to separate themselves from the government, they’d discovered that a darker power was at play.

 

The mysterious return of the Sith was discovered after the Separatists’ failed invasion of Naboo, and now The Clone Wars consumed the Galaxy. The Jedi were convinced the Sith were behind the war, but they had yet to find hard proof to present to the Senate. That was until her fellow Jedi had suddenly disappeared, alongside his nefarious father. 

 

Now she waited for Masters Yoda and Windu on a space dock. Her starfighter was ready to go as soon as soon as she was given the word, but where she was going, she did not know. While she was lost in thought, a Republic gunship landed nearby and out walked the two Jedi Masters.

 

“Why you are here, I suppose you know?” Master Yoda asked her as soon as he and Windu came to stand in front of her. 

 

“I have a feeling as to why,” Yang answered, feeling a pang of guilt in her chest.

 

“It isn’t your fault Yang, you couldn’t have known he’d turn to the dark side,” Master Windu said in an attempt to comfort her.

 

“But I  _ should have _ seen it coming! He’s my best friend, we grew up together, trained together, yet still he fell victim to our enemies,” she shouted back. Despite his infinite wisdom, the master was wrong. Mercury Black's subversion was not the failure of the Order, it was her own.

 

“Know that all this time his own father was corrupting him, you could not,” Master Yoda cut in. “If anyone is to blame, the Council it is, our stubbornness to finish this war blinding us to the danger before us.”

 

“Master Yoda is right, it is paramount that you don't let this burden fester in your mind. No single Jedi was responsible for this tragedy,” Master Windu added. “Regardless of your misgivings, know that the Order still trusts your judgment. This is why we are sending you to Moraband.”

 

_ The home of the dark side _ . Yang recoiled at the mention of the ancient homework of the Sith. “I - I don't - Masters, is it wise to send me alone to Moraband?” Yang asked quietly.

 

Master Yoda's grip tightened on his staff as a squadron of troopers marched past. “A dangerous mission this will be no doubt be, but with the war raging, stretched thin are our resources,” he replied. “We would not send you on a mission of this magnitude if believe you ready we did not.”

 

Master Windu spoke up. “It is true that under less dire circumstances, you would be accompanied by at least a contingent of elite troopers. However, time is of the essence, and the fall of Jedi Black has us concerned about the extent of this infiltration. Any support we send risks alerting the enemy to our plans and we cannot afford that. You will go alone, and you will no doubt succeed at bringing balance. May the force be with you,” Master Windu said, giving her a small nod before he walked away, and before she could convince him otherwise.

 

The elder Jedi stayed behind a while longer, and she could feel him try to convey his resolve through the Force. “Careful on Moraband you must be, Jedi Xiao-Long. A throne for the dark side it is, where our light struggles to shine, its power gnawing at your mind you will feel. Return safe, and hesitate not to do what is necessary,” Master Yoda warned before he too walked back to the Republic Gunship.

 

Yang took a deep breath, basking in the depth of the Force on Coruscant, a beacon of the light across the galaxy. She was about to journey into the one place the light could not reach, and she needed all the strength she could get. With a sigh, she jumped high into the air before landing in her cockpit and readying for take off. She was out of the atmosphere of Coruscant quickly, and let the droid pilot the ship into her hyperspace jump ring. GG-4 buzzed nervously from its seat in front of her, perhaps feeling her own unease when she punched in those dreaded coordinates. With all the preparations done, Yang flicked the switch and felt her gut lurch slightly as she jumped to hyperspace, adding to the sick feeling in her stomach as the familiar blue wormhole tunnel engulfed her.

 

As her starfighter sped towards her destination, she began to reflect upon happier times.

 

_ What fools we were then… _

  
  


_ “Stop in the name of Mandalore!” A young six-year-old Mercury said as he chased Yang around the Jedi temple, both of them holding toy starfighters. _

 

_ “Never! A Jedi bows to no evil, especially not one from that dreary planet!” Yang replied, trying not to giggle as she continued to run away from her pursuer. _

 

_ “Then you leave me no choice but to fire upon your men, and then the women and the children too! Jakku will bend to the Vizsla Clan for the glory of Mandalore!” he growled before making laser sounds, pretending to shoot at her ship. _

 

_ “You’ll never catch us!” she yelled over her shoulder, not being able to stop the laugh from escaping her lips as she ran away faster. _

 

_ The pair ran for some time, passing countless Jedi Knights and Masters. No matter how hard Mercury tried, he just couldn’t catch up to Yang. He started to get frustrated at not being able to catch his friend and before he knew what was going on, his toy starfighter began to levitate in the air. Suddenly his toy launched itself at Yang, hitting her in the back of the head. The impact from the toy knocked her to the ground and instantly Mercury ran up to her. _

 

_ “ _ **_Karking shab_ ** _ , I’m sorry Yang, are you okay?” Mercury asked, his voice filled with concern. _

 

_ “Ouch,” Yang said as she began to rub the back of her head with Mercury coming to kneel down next to her, a small pout forming on her face. “That really hurt. And that’s a bad word.” _

 

_ “I’m sorry, just, you were getting away and next thing I knew my ship launched itself at you,” Mercury explained to her. _

 

_ “Really?” Yang asked, her tone changing from one of sadness to one of curiosity. _

 

_ “Yup, just launched itself right at you,” Mercury said like it was no big deal. _

 

_ “Wow,” Yang said in amazement before a frown appeared on her face. “I can’t believe you used the force before I did!” Yang huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. _

 

_ “Well, Master Yoda  _ **_did_ ** _ say we’d be learning how to control the force soon,” Mercury said, shrugging his shoulders. _

 

_ “I bet I’ll be the best Jedi that ever lived!” Yang exclaimed, holding her head up high. _

 

_ “Nuh-uh, I’m going to be the best Jedi!” Mercury said, making Yang push him over before she got up and started running off again. _

 

_ “Bet you can’t catch me this time!” She shouted to him as he got up and began chasing her again, the pair’s laughter once again filling the halls of the Jedi temple. _

  
  


Yang felt a tear fall from her eye and onto her cheek when she thought back to that memory. It was one of her cherished moments from her childhood, from a time when she and Mercury didn’t have to worry about anything other than goofing off and training with Master Yoda. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as her starfighter jumped out of hyperspace.

 

The orange-coloured planet of Moraband waited not far in front of her, alone in the empty system save for its dimming star. She disconnected her starfighter from the hyperspace ring as she pushed through her unease and had her droid GG-4 send a message back to the Jedi temple, letting them know she had arrived.

 

Soon enough her starfighter had entered the atmosphere and she found a decent place to land. The raging sands partially obscured the half-buried stone temple, her instincts telling her she was in the right place. Exiting her starfighter, she immediately felt something was off, as if the planet itself didn’t want her here. Every step she took felt heavy, as if something was dragging her down.

 

Yet she pushed on towards the ruined building, catching a glimpse of a familiar ship docked on the other side. She was in the right place, that much she knew. It didn’t take long for Yang to reach the temple’s large doors, and with a deep breath she used the Force to push them open and walked inside. The halls of the temple felt even worse than outside, whispers of dark words snaking around her legs with every step she took. 

 

Her will was the only thing keeping her from succumbing to panic, and she braved the quiet storm until she found herself in a rotting chamber, a large statue of a man stood before her. It was tall, commanding as if it was made to dominate the room it stood in. If she was honest, she felt as if the statue was staring right into her, the whispers coiling around his head and speaking to the young Jedi from his unliving soul. 

 

Physical voices coming from a nearby room broke her attention from the ominous statue, and broke herself from its gaze and followed the sound. She stealthily walked up a set of stairs and came across a balcony that overlooked what appeared to be a massive throne room, somehow seeming larger than the entire temple. Following the voices her breath caught in her throat as she spotted Mercury, kneeling before a tall hooded figure chanting incantations.

 

This corruption had gone far too long, and only Yang could put an end to the unrivaled threat to order in the galaxy. Without thinking she jumped down to the throne room, landing with a  _ tap _ across from  Mercury and his master, now unhooded to reveal the long-thought-dead Marcus Black.

 

“Hello there,” she said to Marcus.

 

“Yang Xiao-Long,” the dark force-wielder replied with a dark chuckle. “You are a bold one.”

 

“I’ve come for Mercury,” she said, quickly glancing at her lost friend who remained kneeling at the throne.

 

“Oh, I know why you’ve come, young Jedi, but it won’t matter. You have brought your dwindling light into the heart of darkness, and now you will become the first blood taken by a new Sith warrior,” Marcus said ominously before turning to his son. “Kill her.”

 

“Yes, my lord,” Mercury answered, rising to face Yang.

 

The sight she saw broke her heart, watching her best friend approach with nothing but hate and the will to kill. Those beautiful eyes she could never forget shone a hateful yellow instead of the soft grey she loved so much. This wasn’t her Mercury standing in front of her, no, this was a corruption of everything he once was.

 

Tears began to well in her eyes but she had no time to shed them as Mercury withdrew his lightsaber, a red beam protruding from it and aimed at her throat.

 

“Mercury!” Yang called out, voice wavering in the cavernous depths. “I don’t want to do this.” 

 

Mercury’s lightsaber stilled before lowering in a trained combat stance, the red blade drifting down to create sparks against the ground as Mercury strode towards her. “That makes one of us, Blondie. If you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy. The Force wills it.” 

 

Mercury surged forward, the darkness crashing down on Yang like the ocean as he went for an overhead swing. The blade of raw, red power was brought to a halt, inches from Yang’s head, her own yellow lightsaber springing forth like a solar flare to block the blow.

 

Yang met Mercury’s eyes, forcing her emotions down. “Only a Sith deals in absolutes,” she murmured. “I will do what I must.” 

 

Mercury snarled at that and struck at Yang. The blades of red and yellow began to dance around the two, the constant hum of a lightsaber filling both of their ears like the drone of a hummingbird. Yang was forced on the back foot, conceding ground immediately as Mercury slammed into her. His red blade was everywhere at once as Yang deflected strike after strike. Some were made to cripple, aimed at shoulders or knees, others were direct killing strikes, a few coming close to singing her hair, close enough that the light danced in front of her eyes for a brief moment before she blinked it away. 

 

Blade-to-blade, Yang and Mercury were nearly identical. After hundreds of hours in sparring, they knew each other better than siblings, more intimately than lovers; they were complementary halves of a single perfect warrior. Exchanges flashed. Leaps were slipped around or met with flying kicks; sweeps to the ankles skipped over and punches parried. Both had thousands of hours under their belts for close quarters combat and the deadly blades were accompanied by brutal punches and kicks that knocked the wind out of the other and sent them reeling back before the brutal dance resumed. 

 

Yang continued to give ground, feeling out with the Force at every spare rock that had fallen, every chipped piece of masonry. Mercury was like a tsunami on Kamino, unrelenting and unyielding in the face of any defensive wall. Yang knew this. She knew a battle of holding back the tides of aggression wouldn’t end well for her.

 

So she began to poke holes in his assault from other angles. The architecture and masonry itself became her weapon, near-deadly as her lightsaber. Slowly but surely, the onslaught began to grow. At first, Mercury could deftly flick his blade to intercept such a trivial assault, but it began to grow the further back Yang retreated.

 

No, she mused, that was the wrong word. She was  _ baiting _ him. A straight-up match could have gone either way, but one of the most important lessons of combat was to know the battleground. And Mercury, in his bull-headed rush for the kill, had conceded the arena and allowed Yang access to more ammunition.

 

The onslaught grew further. Soon at least two head-sized objects were being flung at Mercury every second. For the first time this duel, Mercury was forced to give ground as he backstepped to avoid a piece of masonry the size of his chest from falling onto his skull. Yang took a moment to catch her breath and amplified the telekinetic assault, dozens of objects flying around and into Mercury. His own deft mastery of the Force meant he was able to repulse most of them away, some even flying at Yang, but a few were able to ram into his ribs. One even hit the back of his left knee, causing the leg to buckle for a moment. 

 

Yang leapt forward at the sign of weakness, pushing her saber against Mercury’s. She had the upper hand in this saber-lock, and slowly the red blade began to descend towards his heart. Even still, he spoke.

 

“Don’t make me destroy you Yang. You’re no match for the power of the dark side.” 

 

“I’ve heard that before,” she said through clenched teeth, “but I never expected it from you.” 

 

The anger in Mercury was stoked at her words, and he growled as he reached out. The Force smashed into Yang’s gut with a roar and sent her flying head over heels, crashing into the wall with a resounding thud. Her lightsaber clattered to the ground beside her as she rolled, groaning softly. That had hurt, more than she expected it to. 

 

The low chuckle of Marcus Black rang in her ears. He was standing nearby beside one of the pillars, watching with vague bemusement while checking his nails. His callous apathy, the casual disregard for life, and how little he cared for his own son’s fate… the anger began to broil in Yang’s gut, the pain from the impact giving way to a familiar, seething rage. She’d spent years learning to tame the embers of darkness in her heart, a power she kept under lock and key, but seeing this shameful excuse for a  parent corrupt and disregard their own child… the dragon inside her roared for release.

 

And against the wisdom of her Masters echoing in her mind, Yang let the dragon free, to destroy and to feast on its prey. 

 

Mercury looked almost surprised as Yang was in his face in a second. A silent howl escaped her throat as her saber began to batter. Mercury was now the one giving ground, all while her Force assault only amplified, the fragments swirling overhead like storm clouds. And when he eventually stumbled on the steps that storm came crashing down. 

 

Yang blasted Mercury back into a pillar, a cloud of dust covering the knight as he coughed out in pain. Blinking and looking back up at his opponent, Mercury’s demeanour faded into shock and a bit of primal fear as the stone clouds swirling above transformed into a singular stream of debris. Yang and the Force were one and the same in that moment, as her outstretched hand became a fist that represented the wrath of a god. 

 

The stream surged around Yang, the Jedi safe in the eye of the maelstrom that slammed into Mercury. For a second he fought against it, channeling the Force to try and create a buffer against the tide, and when that failed he tried to bat it away with his lightsaber. Both were insignificant attempts against the sheer power behind Jedi Xiao-Long. 

 

Mercury was a child playing with toys in terms of power compared to Yang. In this moment, controlling all that she did and directing it into a single, focused strike of power, she was a goddess smiting an ant. Mercury was forced back into the pillar, which began to crackle and splinter from the impacts. Those chips and fragments were themselves added to the maelstrom that battered and bruised Mercury, before the pillar was itself turned into dust and stone. Mercury was sent flying again, rolling several times before impacting against the bottom of the stairs at the throne. Marcus had, in the heat of the moment, skulked behind cover to hide behind the throne itself. 

 

Finally, the storm died down, the fragments that remained falling to the ground like discarded shell-casings. Yang found herself breathing heavily - the attack had drained a lot of her energy and she was left winded, but it had been well-spent judging by the damage done to Mercury. He was bleeding in several places, a nasty gash on his forehead causing blood to fall over one of his eyes. The way he held his left arm suggested it was broken, which caused a tremor of satisfaction to course through Yang’s blood. The dragon rumbled in her chest, demanding she finish this, and Yang ran forward with her blade, determined to satisfy it. 

 

Mercury barely dodged the first strike, letting Yang take a higher position on the staircase. He chased her up, his attacks slowing down as his injuries caught up with him. Yang was barely even trying to fight at this point, the dragon growing bored with the prey that had outlived its usefulness. Mercury overstretched and she deftly blocked, blasting him back down the steps with the Force. Mercury caught himself halfway up, and when he looked at Yang she saw all reason had escaped him. She had humiliated him in front of his father, and now he needed to prove his worth by killing her at all costs, to the point where he was performing tactical suicide in charging someone who had the high ground. 

 

Yang was expecting an overhead swing as Mercury leapt up the stairs, bringing her saber up for a high defensive stance. But he had been aiming to leap behind her. 

 

Yang’s lightsaber twitched on instinct, and Mercury was unable to correct his course midair. Before anyone could react Yang’s whirling blade met his knees, shearing both limbs in two.

 

His lower legs tumbled past Marcus before he blasted them away with a practiced disdain. Mercury himself landed painfully between the Jedi and Sith warriors, silent barring a few whimpers of agony. Yang, without even realizing, had caught Mercury’s lightsaber and held the two weapons now. The tip of her own had drifted until it was at eye-level with Mercury. For a moment, the dragon inside her imagined skewering Mercury on his own blade, pinning him to the throne where he would rest for all eternity. 

 

It was Marcus himself who snapped Yang out of her fantasy, a low, mocking applause filling her ears as he stepped forward.

 

“My oh my, Master Yoda was underselling your abilities. You must be one of the most powerful Force-wielders I’ve seen in my years.” The grin adorning the older Black’s face was unnerving, particularly when combined with his corrupt, yellow eyes. “Many times better than the  _ runt _ you just dispatched. I felt the power emanating off of you, girl. You truly are your mother’s daughter.” He reached out a hand, ignoring his disgraced son to approach her. “Join me, and I can teach you to hone that anger and make the galaxy tremble at your name.” 

 

The dragon mulled the possibility, but it was a fickle beast that ruled Yang’s heart. It craved the moment-to-moment thrills, the excitement of a saber battle, and the idea of conquering the galaxy was too… long-term for it. And in her heart, she knew he was the source behind all this pain, behind the fall of her closest friend. She would never bow down before him... 

 

Yang twirled her sabers, meeting Marcus’s pleased sneer with an even glare. The smile faded away, replaced by an irritated scowl. “So be it, Jedi. If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed,” he said before unleashing his own red lightsaber, lunging at her while spinning in the air with a maddening scream.

 

Yang’s yellow and red sabers met the red of Marcus, the older man moving so quickly he almost left afterimages that danced around Yang’s vision. Even with only a single blade, Marcus quickly began pushing Yang back with contemptuous ease. She had expended much of her strength on defeating Mercury, and with no time to recover she was perpetually on the back foot. Even if she had fought Marcus first, Yang knew in the bottom of her heart that he was simply too strong for her to face alone. He looked more bored than anything as he deflected her strikes, the pommel of his lightsaber meeting her nose with a sickening crunch. Reeling from the blow, Yang shook her head, gaining her bearings only to take a Force blast that knocked her to the edge of the altar. Mercury’s red saber slipped out of her grasp and hung precariously on the ledge. Marcus did not move forward, sighing to himself in disappointment and stopping to check his nails as Yang struggled to get back up. His eyes locked onto Yang’s as she managed to stand up straight, the Sith Lord twirling his blade like a showman as she gathered her breath.

 

Yang charged, the dragon and the Jedi roaring as one, but instead of meeting a blade, she crashed against a wall of lighting. One that seared along her spine, tortured her nerves and forced her to drop her lightsabers as she fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Marcus watched with disinterest as his lightning continued to scorch the Jedi Knight, her skeleton briefly flashing through her skin as dark energy tore her apart. He began to close the gap, still twirling his saber like he was on a stage. Yang’s arm snapped out, trying to connect the Force to the blade so it would spear through his eye, but Marcus tsked in response, her connection to the weapon severed in a heartbeat before the lightning crackled ever louder. Yang tried to push herself back from Marcus, but his boot pinned her chest down to the ground as he took aim with his lightsaber. With a wide and bloodthirsty smile, the red tip of his saber plunging into Yang’s shoulder.

 

Pain wracked the young Jedi as Marcus slowly worked his weapon around her right arm. The smell of burnt flesh overtook Yang’s sense of smell as she writhed in agony, echoes of pained cries ringing in her ears before she realized she was hearing her own screams. Yang nearly blacked out completely from the pain, only coming to when the absence of pain crashed down on her. Yang looked to her arm on instinct and began screaming again when she saw the jagged stump of what was left, the seared remains of her arm lying some distance away. 

 

This was it, this was how she was going to die. At the hands of a maniacal Sith Lord, she was going to die knowing she failed in her duty to bring Mercury back to the Jedi. Yang crawled back pointlessly before Marcus continued his force lightning assault and unleashed unlimited power through her body, but through the pain, she managed to open her eyes briefly and saw Mercury laying on his stomach with his shaking arm extended.

 

She caught a glimpse of Mercury’s red lightsaber lighting up before her eyes were forced shut in her final spasms. “Pathetic, just like my son. Without the resolve to see this through  _ you _ are worth  _ no more _ than the dirt beneath my feet. You will NEVER have what it takes to survive what is to come, for the galaxy will soon  **shatter** under the will of the Sith, and your  _ petty _ Jedi order will be destr-” Marcus was interrupted by a red blade bursting through his chest, and Yang dimly saw Mercury’s arm reaching out to his father before he pulled it back, tearing the lightsaber straight through Marcus and forcing the Sith Lord to his knees.

 

The look on the old corruptor’s face would’ve been satisfying if Yang had been able to feel anything but pain. His breaths were haggard and red pupils dilating, but even in his final moments, he spared a ghostly chuckle at the two wounded Jedi.

 

“So it shall be, children. It seems the Force wills another Sith to rise. You Jedi will never understand that there must  _ always _ be a dark lord to bring order to a forsaken galaxy. I expect  _ great things _ from you, my son.” Marcus threw his head back and cackled aloud, his peals of laughter filling the whole chamber until the red lightsaber spun in an arc to remove the elder Black’s head.

 

Mercury fell back down to the ground, his hand still reaching out towards Yang as he lost consciousness. She could see he was breathing heavily, the charred remains of his legs twitching in shock. Why did he save her after he had tried to tear her apart not moments ago? Had he escaped the dark side control his father had placed over him? She didn’t know and didn’t care at this moment, what mattered now was contacting the order and getting out of the ruined temple.

 

Willing the Force to give her what remaining strength she had, she pushed herself up off the ground on her one arm. Her legs trembled as she stumbled towards Mercury, dropping to her knees and brushing the hair and blood from his face. She needed to get him out of here or all this bloodshed would be for naught. She slowed her breathing down and focused on the Force, using what connection she could to the light to help her lift Mercury up and drape his arm over her shoulder.

 

Sluggishly and painfully she stumbled out of the buried temple with Mercury’s unconscious body, the dark statue watching her back as she escaped this throne of darkness. Yang scrunched her eyes as she found herself caught in another blistering sandstorm, obscuring her vision all around and leaving her stranded in the desert planet. Great - she had survived combat with two Sith warriors and now she would die to a bunch of swirling sand. She almost would’ve taken dying to force lightning over this.

 

A distant humming shook her out of her thoughts, as from the shrouded sky a Republic gunship descended above a dune twenty paces in front of her. As it reached the ground, a small contingent of clone troopers jumped out with a familiar Jedi following closely behind. 

 

“Rex, make sure the area is secure,” Anakin Skywalker said to the clone to his left with blue-highlighted armour...

 

“Right away General,” the clone captain answered as his troopers fanned out past the wounded Jedi.

 

“Master Skywalker..?” Yang asked, wondering if she was just hallucinating as she drowned in the sands until Anakin gently took Mercury off her shoulder.  Suddenly weight of everything that had happened crash over her, nearly knocking her off her feet, only to be caught by the older Jedi before hitting the ground.

 

“It’s okay now Yang, you’re safe now,” Master Skywalker said as he gently laid her on the winding sands.

 

Yang opened her mouth to reply but couldn’t overcome her fatigue, only able to reach out to Mercury weakly before her eyes drifted shut and she succumbed to her exhaustion.

  
  


It had been less than a week, but Yang had made a quick recovery, partly thanks to the most advanced medical technology in the galaxy and partly because she needed to see Mercury with her own eyes. He had been recovering in the hospital wing of the Jedi Temple, given new legs to replace the ones he had lost on Moraband. Seeing the robotic limbs twitch and rise with each assisted breath was painful, but she would take it over having him remain a Sith disciple or killing him. Indeed, the cost for saving him and defeating Marcus Black had been high, and Yang inspected the prosthetic metal arm she now had openly, twisting the hand intently as she felt out the limb. Life would never be the same for either of them, but first, they had to make sure they would survive the fallout of Moraband. The Council had been debating on what exactly to do with Mercury - some still saw him as a threat to the Order, whereas others argued he could be brought back to the light side of the Force.

 

Light and dark... _ Gungan skrog _ . Yang’s thoughts turned murkier as she reflected on the battle she’d fought. The Jedi way was to banish dark thoughts from your mind and to trust in the Force, to be paragons of light in a galaxy of chaos. On Moraband, however, she had been almost completely cut off from the light, and in desperation, she had tapped into the beast she always knew lay within her and with it the power of the dark side. Bloodlust and savagery and revenge: none of these were the Jedi way. She had fallen victim to their corruption in the heart of darkness. The last words of the dark lord haunted her - was Mercury doomed to descend back into darkness? Was she?

 

...No. No, there was something missing. Yang had felt it in the heat of battle - darkness coursing through her mind, but the light as well. They were both the Force. Two sides of one, halves of a whole. Light and dark were equal before the Force and in the moment where she was both at once, she was unstoppable.

 

Perhaps the Order would not understand. Jedi were templars of light and justice, and to accept that the darkness ran through the universe unimpeded would be to upheave millennia of Jedi teachings. But Yang now knew in her heart that she was nothing without the light and the dark. She was incomplete without both.

 

She was incomplete without him.

 

Ever so gently, she brushed his hair from his face, running a steel finger along the scar over his left eye. He looked so peaceful lying in the bed, oblivious to the goings-on around him. She smiled at the sight before her, unbelievably relieved that things had worked out in the end. The door to the room opened and she quickly withdrew her hand, hoping no one had seen the small act of affection she had given. Turning around, she’d expected to see Master Yoda or perhaps Mace Windu, but Yang was surprised to see Obi-Wan Kenobi walking into the room.

 

“I supposed I would find you here,” Master Kenobi said with a kind smile as he stood behind her, sparing a glance at the force warrior she’d rescued.

 

“Oh, uh...well, someone has to be here for him when he wakes up,” she replied as she looked back to Mercury.

 

“A friendly face would be the best thing for him to see when he returns to us.” 

 

Yang hummed in response, casting a worried glance back at her friend. “Master Kenobi, has the Council made a decision on what to do with him?” she asked the older Jedi.

 

Obi-Wan gave her a worried look - what did that mean? Would the Council exile him, or perhaps even worse? “There’s still no decision yet, but a lot of the Council still sees him as a danger. Not just to the Order, but to the Republic as well.”

 

“But - but he isn’t! He saved my life on Moraband! The conspiracy against Senator Amidala wasn’t plotted by him, it was his father, and I can prove it!” Yang argued but stopped when Master Kenobi raised a single hand.

 

“Yang, do you truly believe he’s not a threat?” Master Kenobi asked her directly, looking her in the eye.

 

She stared back, conveying her certainty through her posture, her voice, the Force. “I do. I have to believe there’s still good in him, that the playful, confident boy I grew up with is still in there somewhere,” she said quietly, a tear running down her face as she took Mercury’s hand in her own.

 

Kenobi spoke from behind her. “I can’t promise you anything, Jedi Xiao-Long, but I will try to have the council see that he isn’t a threat. It isn’t much, but I pray the Force guides us to do what is right,” Master Kenobi said before he turned and left the room, leaving Yang alone with the fallen Jedi.

 

She couldn’t think of a life without Mercury in it. The time he served his father was some of the worst Yang had ever experienced. Every day she missed him and woke up with the hope that he had returned, only to be shattered each morning. She was in love with him, she couldn’t doubt that, and deep down she knew he shared this feeling. She had seen it, heavy in his heart the night before he left her to pursue the dark side.

 

She knew it was forbidden within the Order to fall in love, but she couldn’t change how her heartfelt. She wouldn’t change what was right.

 

“Y-Yang?” a nearby voice said groggily as grey eyes blinked open blearily.

 

“Mercury?” she looked up to see him trying to sit up, the oxygen mask in his hand and the bedridden Knight painfully unaware of his surroundings. “It’s alright, you’re safe now, we’re safe. I’m - I’m glad you’re back,” Yang managed to say, the emotion coating her voice.

 

He glanced around the room and did a double take when he saw the metal arm on his shoulder. “ _ Farkled shab _ , is that -? I can’t...Yang, I’m sorry, I let you down. I- I let everyone down,” he said agitatedly as he fell back on the bed.

 

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. The Council is still figuring out what it wants to do, so you’ve got time to be sorry later. Besides, I, kinda got you back so we’re...even,” she added, pointedly not looking at his legs.

 

Mercury quirked an eyebrow. “What do you mean, eve- oh.” He stared at his metal limbs for a long moment before he sighed. “Normally I’d be a little mad, but to be honest it was probably justified.” He grew silent as his eyes trained on Yang’s face.

 

Yang felt her cheeks heating up uncharacteristically. “What- what is it, Mercury?”

 

He kept his eyes trained on her, almost as if he was reading into her soul itself. “How can you trust me?”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“You trust me. Why? I used you - I manipulated your loyalty and left you, and when you came to save me I tried to kill you. You shouldn’t trust me. No one should after what I did.”

 

_ Paf _ . At least slapping felt somewhat normal with the prosthetic. “I’m going to need you to stop thinking like that, Greymane of Mandalore. You were under the sway of your father and the dark side, but I knew the real you was in there somewhere. I was right - you  _ saved _ me, Mercury. So long as I stand as a Jedi, I trust you with my life.”

 

He hummed, a hand gently reaching up her neck and ignoring the thousands of warnings going off in both of their heads. “You know, standing too close to the fire is bound to get you burned, Bandit Princess of Jakku.”

 

She giggled. Mercury was back, her Mercury, and she wasn’t letting him go anytime soon. “You’re telling that to a daughter of the desert. If anyone’s getting burned, I’ll make sure to carry a tall glass of bacta around so I can keep that face of yours handsome.”

 

“Is that a pickup line, or are you just waiting for me to let my guard down to blast me through another pillar?”

 

She chuckled darkly, clasping his face in her human and metal hands. “I did NOT travel to the throne of darkness just so you could make me feel guilty about knocking some sense into you,” she replied before pressing her lips to his.

 

The kiss was soft and short, yet it took their breath away and gave both of them hope that the future would be brighter. There was no going back from this, but then again there had never been a going back since that fateful day they’d met as children. She pulled away from the kiss, basking in the relief it gave her to know he was real, and rested her forehead on his, human hand gently caressing his neck.

 

“I missed you, you foul-mouthed Hutt-spawn,” she whispered to him, closing her eyes as the noise of Coruscant faded away from them.

 

“I missed you too, Blondie,” was his earnest reply as he too closed his tired eyes after an adventure they were eager not to repeat, he began to fall asleep with the feeling of her lips still tingling on his

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed it if you did leave a comment and a kudos! It really helps <3 and again I hope you have a great birthday Adox <3


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